Vaniya Chettiar is a subcaste of Chettiars living primarily in the south Indian states of Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka. Their major professions are oil and groceries.They are also known as Ganiga in Karnataka & Gandla & Teli because of similarities in profession of these two castes. Vaniyambadi (near Vellore-Ambur) was originally a Vaniya Chettiar town(Now most of the Chettiars have moved to neighboring towns). In Tamil Nadu, Sizable numbers of this caste can be found in the Coimbatore,Erode,Vellore,Madurai,Paramakudi, Krishnagiri, Cudalore, Periyakulam, Tirunelveli. Kanyakumari and Villupuram districts (basically erstwhile undivided Arcot/Chengalpattu Districts). Though not in large enough numbers to command a vote bank, People of the community in small towns in these areas can still be found running Chekku (oil press); these are now mostly electric rather than bull driven. While some sections of the community have taken to education in the past couple of generations and made a mark as IT pros, entrepreneurs and business men with their traditional business acumen have been very successful others still find studies a difficult task. Late R.K.Shanmugam Chettiyar, free Indias first finance minister belonged to this community.
Posted on: Wed, 05 Mar 2014 07:54:59 +0000
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